Winter Wellness Workshop
I will begin with the understanding, that the things I say are from my experience, or from what I would do, and what I believe about health. I add that disclaimer because everyone’s body is different, and what I say works for me may not work for you. For example. I drink herb teas daily. Some of you may have an allergy to some of the herbs I use, therefore, for me to say do this, and you do it and have a allergic reaction, I will have done you a very big disservice.
I am also not wanting to take away from you learning about the workings of you body; that is you beautiful journey. We are born into this life and the experiment begins.
I also believe that if you have serious illnesses you should see a medical practitioner to help you figure out your problem. You are not where I am, where I have been taking care of my own health since I was 12 without the assistance of medical help.
What I will be concentrating on is for you to be well and not need to have medical assistance for your health. But in the end, I say that everyone should be their own best doctor. I believe that practitioners should be viewed as helps, and not gods.
So, let’s get this out of the way. Herbs are sometimes powerful for medicine. You must use wisdom and skill in using herbs so you don’t have problems. This is a caution, and not to create fear. I help people with their many questions. Usually reactions are limited to mild headaches, dizziness, rashes and such. To have more dramatic reactions it usually requires you taking something over a period of time and you ignoring the reaction you are having. It requires that you aren’t being observant about your own care. Don’t do that. Don’t treat yourself if you don’t remain mindful of how you are feeling.
Conclusion to the Story of Why I Came to Herbs as a Boy What I learned when I was 12 was when the doctor couldn’t find the cure for my Ringworm 1. I couldn’t leave my health in the hands of someone else, and 2. I learned that herbs could cure me of illness. The other thing I learned that I didn’t realize back then was I learned to be observant about my body, what it was saying to me, and to be observant about my environment.
The reason that I tell my story is because I am speaking to many of ideas that are quite foreign to most people. In the past herbs and Herbalists, were suppressed by medical associations.
I am also speaking to many who are Novices. Many of you might feel that I am speaking of a mystical place or land where the rules are all changed. Me telling my story gives you a bridge on which you can build faith to cross to the understanding of herbs. By you crossing this bridge of belief, you will be able to build your own bridge. If and when you try herbs and prove to yourself that herbs work, you will build your own bridge, and your own faith to believe in herbs as a power to heal will grow.
I can tell you a simple remedy for you to try and build your faith on. When you see that it works for you, you will enter the land of the forgotten knowledge. In the spring you will get mosquito bites. Try this. When you get a bite, get a Plantain leaf and chew a little piece and put it on the bite for about 10 mins and you will see that herbs work. Me eating grass as a 12 year old boy, to heal myself of Ringworm, when the Doctor couldn’t heal me was my bridge to the world of using weeds for medicine.
When I do workshops and I see Stinging Nettle I get excited. I will walk over to the Stinging Nettle and do a demonstration that proves that herbs work as medicine. I will rub my bare arm across the Stinging Nettle which causes welts to be produced on my arm. In the demonstration I explain a truth that if you have a toxin, the remedy for your healing will be within 10 ft of the toxin. A remedy is always that close to a problem. I will look around and there will be Plantain, Burdock, Jewel Weed, or Yellow Dock within 10 ft to fix my problem. I will chew part of a leaf and with lots of spit on the leaf, I will rub it on my arm. Within 2 minutes I will barely feel the effects of the stinging. I usually pick Plantain because it is softer to chew, it is almost always around and it is very effective.
Of this other world that I speak of, I say: Foragers see the world differently that everyone else. While other people walk around stepping on weeds, and they see trees, and shrubs, flowers and grass, a forager sees food and medicine.
The basis of your health is Nutrition – US Senate Report
When do you think this report came out in? Some say the 1960’s, some think as far back as the 1950’s. The answer is that the report came out in 1936. And with the state of our World’s farming practices, farmers are still not putting nutrients back into the soil. They are only selling crops and not putting anything back into the soil. The chemical companies have farmers believing that selling wheat, corn or whatever is enough. There is no consideration of whether or not the food is healthy for those consuming it. There is the farm to save.
My observation and belief is that our bodies are created to heal themselves. If we give our bodies all the nutrients that they need, our bodies will heal themselves to the optimum of our DNA capacity. Some are unfortunate to have DNA with diseases as part of your make up. My hope is that in teaching you about nutrition and the way your body functions, I will help you to get closer to your healthiest within the bounds of your DNA makeup. Part of my family makeup is a weakness in the lungs, and from my father, I could have a problem with cholesterol in the arteries and prostate problems. Because I looked at my family background, I could decide that I don’t want these ailments to touch my life, so I have made life choices that have skirted the families weaknesses. Dad didn’t learn the lessons of herbs or of good health. For example, by the time my father was 55 he had a triple bypass to clean out his arteries. Seeing what he went through I’ve decided that I have no interest in a surgeon cutting me, so I use Olive Oil for oil, I eat lots of Oatmeal, get lots of roughage in my diet, apples are especially good for you and vegetables, lots of bran in a bran cereal. This is how I have decided not to follow my father’s footsteps in health.
If we look at the statement by the Senate Report and that you “Will get sick without minerals”, and assume the simple conclusion of merely eating nutritious food to get you healthy, in my estimation that would be a little off. I believe that even if you ate healthy food and supplements, you might still be sick. What if you begin with clogged bowels? Absorption of nutrition is the important thing as well as getting nutrition. To get an immediate start toward good health you should consider a good bowel cleanse.
Some people have been eating things that are not good for them for years, and their bowels are clogged with a thick layer of mucous that make absorbing nutrients almost impossible; we need a good cleansing.
In preparing for this Workshop I found a good article by a doctor on the situation.
“The mucus coats the villi on the wall of the small intestine. The villi are like tiny fingers that stick out from the intestinal wall to absorb nutrients from the digested food, which is primarily liquid. The mucus on the villi blocks the absorption of nutrients from the food. Sometimes the mucus gets so thick and tough it is almost like a plastic film. Almost no nutrition can get through to the body. A person with a severe mucus buildup could take $1,000.00 worth of supplements a month along with a good diet and still get almost no nutritional value from them. He or she would be starving and therefore would want to eat more food including protein. That would lead to more of the pancreatic enzymes being used to digest the protein even though it could not be properly absorbed. When all the pancreatic enzymes are used up, there are none left in the blood to destroy cancer cells.
The article is found at: http://www.whale.to/a/intestine.html
He then went on to prescribe a drug and that is where we part ways.
There we have it, with the bowels clean, and with our food deficient, how are we to get our nutrition? If you are constantly bunged up you may still be sick if your body isn’t absorbing the good nutrients that your body is needing.
To start the healing process it is best to do a cleanse in your bowels and also your blood. And then you have to get enough roughage to continue getting the roughage to maintain your healthy intestinal tract.
What Goes in Must Come Out
For a good bowel cleanse strictly for the intestinal tract you can try Cascara Sagrada. This herb causes water to accumulate in the intestines and thus making your stool soft and flowing. Loose as a goose comes to mind. You are best to use Cascara Sagrada about half an hour before bed and take it as a tea, or as a supplement with a hot cup of water, as hot as is comfortable to take. This will maximize the effect. A capsule is safe to take, if you have never used it before. If 1 capsule isn’t enough of a moving experience, you could try 2 capsules another time. Again with hot water before bed. You might hear of another herb, Senna, for the same purpose, but I would advise against it. Senna may cause you a lot of cramps.
For a deep cleanse you can use a combination of herbs, Chaparral, Dandelion Root, and Red Clover Blossoms. That works on both cleaning the bowel, and also the blood. If you wanted to do a good blood cleanse, you could also add Yellow Dock root and Burdock root. It is interesting to note that both Chaparral and Red Clover Blossoms have been studied for the use of Cancer.
Prune juice is an old favourite, and Metamucil comes from the seeds of the ever present Plantain weed. Plantain is the weed that I am constantly raving about, a weed which I tell everyone that they should get to know about.
Flax Seed has properties of helping you to eliminate, as well as having Essential Fatty Acids as a bonus. Flax, with its roughage, forms a jell that will go through your intestine like a plug, dragging the old food out and from the intestinal lining.
Bran is good for roughage. You can think of the insoluble bran flakes as thousands of little bulldozers cleaning the sides of your intestines. Some must drive upside down.
Chlorophyll is good for a constant cleansing. Chlorophyll is what makes your vegetables green, so continue to maintain good bowel and blood cleanliness by eating green leafy vegetable. If you lived by the principle of eating your medicine, you should eat lots of vegetables.
After The Cleanse
Good and as healthy food as possible, preferable grown by you, should be your first line of defense for good health. In growing your own food, you breathe in gasses given off of the soil, chemicals that are the precursors of melatonin (the happiness hormone).
Herbs that are good for nutrition are Alfalfa, and Dandelion, but Alfalfa is king. Kelp is another good supplement for giving you your minerals. Some might have a problem with Kelp so use it with caution. In the back of my book Herbally Yours you will find that Alfalfa has all but a couple of minerals in it. That is because the roots of Alfalfa goes down 10 to 14 ft in the ground picking up minerals from deep in the soil. You will notice that the mineral rich Dandelion also has a deep root. Another beneficial supplement is Kelp. It picks up minerals that float freely in the ocean.
I think that it is a good idea to drink a tea of Alfalfa, Peppermint Horsetail, and Chamomile. Alfalfa will give you your minerals and help you digest your food, Peppermint will help you digest your food, Horsetail will help you assimilate your Calcium, Calcium is a very important mineral, and Chamomile would help you feel calm in your life.
Often people take herbs for different ailments. While food is your best medicine, herbs can be used to get a person back on track. Many people will think of herbs as medicine, ie thinking of the Pharmaceutical properties, but herbs are more. Herbs contain large concentrations of minerals and herbs work because it is the concentration of minerals that give the body the nutrients to restore it to health. Remember, if you do not have the minerals you will get sick.
If a person isn’t dangerously, or bothersomely sick, if you are not confident in prescribing herbs for yourself, you can take Alfalfa, Dandelion Leaves, and/or Kelp to slowly, but surely feed yourself the nutrients that your body will absorb and restore your good health. That is my thinking, my gut feeling, so take it for what it is worth. It will be a slower, more natural way to restore yourself to health.
Dealing with Mucous
After cleaning out your bowels, I think that the next biggest preventative thing that you need to be concerned with for your health is monitoring the Mucous level in your body. Mucous is a necessary part of your human health, it separates organs from each other, and bacteria from our parts, but an over abundance of Mucous becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. With a combination of too much mucous, not enough nutrients and your body defenses being down, you will get sick. When you notice that you are getting to mucousy you have to bring down the mucous level to prevent illness. Did you know that often times, it is mucous that causes a sore throat? Mucous will build up at the back of the nasal cavity and if a bad bacteria comes along, the mucous will be the perfect breeding ground for a sore throat to develop. If you have bacteria in your nose it is better to blow your nose that it is to huck it up, so it doesn’t pass your throat. You will know that you have bacteria when your mucous becomes green.
When you first notice that you are getting an excess Mucous (a runny nose, clearing your throat, tightness in chest etc.) it may be a sign that your body’s defenses are down, so you should reduce the foods that create Mucous in your body. These foods are the building blocks of Mucous – white sugar, white wheat flour and milk products. You can remember them by thinking that they are all white. If you do become sick before you clear yourself of mucous, the longer you continue eating these food the longer you will be sick because you will be continuing the breeding ground of mucous.
Mucous in General: The main herbs to clear mucous are Fenugreek, Slippery Elm and Thyme (the culinary herb). You may also use Sage in your cooking.
Lungs: In my case, the mucous will present itself in the lungs, so I have always used Fenugreek (mainly) Mullein, and Marshmallow Root in a tea. If you have other herbs you could include Burdock for cleaning your blood, Red Raspberry, Rose Hips, and Plantain. Some of these herbs are for clearing mucous, some are to repair tissues infected (if over a period of time). Again, you can use Sage and/or Thyme in your cooking.
Sinuses: Fenugreek (mainly), and you can take Ginger, Fennel, Mullen. Rose Hips can be used for clearing your sinuses, which adds the bonus of being especially high in Vit. C.
When expelling mucous from your nose it is better to blow your nose rather than hucking it out through your mouth. There is less chance of getting a sore throat when the mucous touches your throat.
Green mucous in your sinuses indicate the presence of a bacterial infection.
Mucous in the Throat: The main herb I use with a sore throat is Licorice. Bayberry, Chlorophyll are also good. Cayenne is good to swallow. You might want to consume it in hot spicy food. It is not as hard on the stomach that way. I have been known to get a tall glass of tomato juice, and I throw at least a tablespoon of Cayenne in, stirred it up and drink it down. You might want to experiment with how much Cayenne you use, depending on how strong a stomach you have, and how your body handles an acid system. You can take Alfalfa tablets, and perhaps a Calcium supplement to help reduce your acid level.
Comfrey: In all this, some books may suggestion to use Comfrey for several of these. I strongly caution people about the use of Comfrey for extended use, as it can cause liver damage. Herbs have to be used with skill, prudence and with moderation.
Cayenne is a good herb to use in association with most treatment. Do not use with acidic problems. Cayenne is a catalyst, and as such it speeds up all reactions. It will also cause the heart to strengthen, and also pump faster to get the nutrients out to your body quicker. You will note that when you eat hot spicy food that your face will get red. That is the heart pumping heat away from your core, to cool it, thus the heat is moved to your face and limbs. In the winter I will use more Cayenne on colder days to help keep me warmer.
Garlic can be used at all times as a prevention of illness. Garlic is a natural Antibiotic and will kill bacteria, viruses (colds), and Fungus infections. It is unlike chemical Antibiotics, in that it will not disturb your body’s natural flora. You can read more about Garlic where I speak of Strep Throat. You can minimize the smell of Garlic by drinking lots of water when you are taking it, and also you can chew on a sprig of parsley after eating the Garlic. Parsley has a lot of Chlorophyll in it (the reason for the dark green colour). Chlorophyll is the ingredient in Clorets that kills bad breath odours.
Other Winter Ailments:
Bronchitis, Pneumonia etc.: To start, these will be dealt with in the same manor as to remove the mucous. When the mucous is gone, clearing the lungs and bronchial tubes of infection is much simpler. (See Mucous – Lungs)
What I do is:
1. I automatically remove white sugar, white flour, and milk products from my diet.
2. I will begin drinking a tea of Fenugreek, Mullein, and Marshmallow root. 4 to 6 cups the first day. 4 cups the following day if the condition persists.
3. I start taking Garlic for an Antibiotic, 4 cloves a day, for at least a day after I think that I have licked it.
4. I begin taking Cayenne in large amounts, more than a teaspoon in tomato juice. I do that 2 times a days. Cayenne raises the core temperature, which like an artificial fever. I will speak to fevers further along.
Use Cayenne in tomato juice, and on an empty stomach when you want it to get into your system faster. If you want it to go into your system slower, put the Cayenne into your food where it will be absorbed slowly throughout a few hours – it works like time released that way.
Strep Throat:
One winter I got Strep Throat. It was to the point that I could hardly swallow, so I had to deal with more aggressive than I would a regular Sore Throat. I ate 2 bulbs of Garlic in 2 days ( it was the loneliest 2 days of my life). I ate one bulb the first and the other the second day. That is at a rate of 1 cove every hour to hour and a half. But inasmuch as it was Strep Throat I consumed them differently than I would a regular Sore Throat. With a regular Sore Throat I simple drank 2 glasses of water, put a little water in my mouth and then a clove of Garlic; I chewed the Garlic and swallowed.
With the Strep Throat, I also drank the 2 glasses of water, I sipped some water, chewed the Garlic, but rather than swallowing the whole mixture, I swallowed the liquid, and then I swallowed the Garlic so it would pass over the throat tissues. By the end of the first day I could swallow comfortably again, but I took the second bulb the next day to make sure I had killed all the germs. This is why I comfortably say that Garlic doesn’t interfere with your body’s flora.
If you have a stomach that will not tolerate the strength of the Garlic on your stomach, cut up a clove of Garlic and put it in a glass of water for a couple of hours and then you can drink it. This will make it not so hard on the stomach. There will be no Garlic sitting immediately on your stomach.
You can also eat Papayas. Papayas have a similar compound that is in stomach acid and while eating it, it will digest the dead tissues of the throat as it travels to your stomach.
Colds Vs. Flu (both are Virus ailments, making their symptoms somewhat similar)
What are the symptoms of the flu versus the symptoms of a cold? Found in article http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/coldflu.htm
In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
Flu:
Ginger is good for your stomach, it will neutralize acids and aid digestion. Peppermint is also good for your digestion, and also for fever, headaches, pain and it is also an Expectorant. Red Raspberry and Yarrow are 2 other better herbs to take. Secondary herbs that grow in the area would be Alfalfa, Catnip Dandelion (the root), Red Clover, Rose Hips (likely for the Vit. C and for a fever), Slippery Elm is good for Diarrhea , lungs and mucous. Yellow Dock root is a good blood purifier and cleans out some of your organs. Take these in a tea form. Teas (Infusions) will hit your blood stream almost immediately, much faster than ingesting them in a tablet or capsule which then have to be broken down in the less effective digestive system.
If you can hold down food add Sage, Thyme and Cinnamon to your meals. Studies are being conducted to see if Cinnamon actually kills germs.
Vitamins A, C and E are important, as is Calcium.
Remember to add Garlic and Cayenne to your treatment.
Colds: Colds really respond well to a combination of Cayenne, Garlic, Fenugreek, and Rose Hips.
Secondary herbs could be Chamomile, Catnip, Ginger, Licorice for congestion in the throat, Peppermint, Red Raspberry, and Yarrow.
Vitamins A, B, C and E and Calcium
Ear Infection
If you get an ear infection, get a small bottle and partly fill it with Olive Oil. Cut up a clove of Garlic and put it into the oil. Leave stand for at least for an hour. You can warm the oil and tilting your head, put some in your ear with an eyedropper.
The warm is soothing and will usually remove the pain quickly and the natural antibiotic property will kill the infection. Put some Kleenex in your ear to both keep your ear warm, but also to keep the oil from dripping on your clothes.
Good Habits for Good Health
I will add what I do as good habits to keep me without illnesses. I do these things in the knowledge that I am less likely to get sick, and if I do, because my body is already in good condition, that it will take less for me to throw off the attack of an illness.
– I drink a glass of water before I go to bed and again when I first get up. I think that I get a good flush of my liver and kidneys before my stomach gets food in it. Some will prefer either Distilled or RO water. Also hydration is important
– Reduce the amount of meat you consume if you eat a lot of meat. A naturopath I heard speak, said that your body can only process a small paddy of meat at a time. If you eat too much meat your body will not be able to produce enough Hydrochloride Acid to break down the protein, the remainder will go rancid in your gut. Your intestines are warm and moist. It is a great place for toxins to grow. These toxins will get absorbed into your bloodstream via the intestines. Ask yourself would you eat meat that sat out on the table for a day or more? If you think about the toxins that would grow being left out, it is worst in the warmth and the moisture of your gut.
-Regarding eating meat, I eat most of my meat at the beginning of the meal so that the meat hits my stomach on its own, and then my vegetables. That way the Hydrochloric Acid can break the meat down before the potatoes get piled on and absorb the acid, leaving the protein undigested.
– Get good yogurt into you. I eat half a tub of yogurt usually 2 times a week. This is unsweetened yogurt. I add unsweetened pineapple or a mixture of fruit to the yogurt. Also, when I am eating oatmeal, I put a tablespoon of yogurt into my oatmeal when it is just warm, and I let it stand for a few hours before I eat it. It is my feeling that the oatmeal becomes a base for the probiotics to grow. I started this practice after I found out that chick peas was the medium for growing probiotics, that are sold in health food stores. Yogurt can also be added to rice or bean meals.
How to Use Herbs
People do not consider that herbs can be powerful in their effects on you, particularly if you have an allergy, or an adverse reaction to a herb. You have to use herbs in both wisdom (understanding what the herb does) and moderation. If you overuse a medicinal herb you can develop an allergy to it, or a buildup can cause you problems. An example that can be sited is for Comfrey. Comfrey is a wonderful herb that is powerful in healing many ailments, 50 and counting. I personally only take Comfrey for knitting my bones for breaks.
When you try an herb for the first time you will not know if you are allergic. If you are using Chemical Drugs you would be wise to consult with a Pharmacist for harmful interactions with that herb. Pharmacists are more knowledgeable than doctors about this. Or find a reputable site on the Internet.
Use the herb once and don’t use if again for a couple of days. Try this again in a couple of days. If you experience a side effect like a rash, dizziness, confusion, head ache, or anything different than usual, stop using the herb.
If you are using more than one new herb that is new, you should take the time to use this process. Or simply pick another herb that will do the same thing, but one that you have used.
When using herbs for your health, I suggest using herbs that are from your direct area. The principle is that the herbs that grow in your immediate area are living in the same environment, the same climate as you, so they will respond to that same climate by producing the best chemistry to adapt to that environment. That is why I strongly hope that everyone will come out for foraging workshops, to collect the herbs that are needed by you. You assess the illnesses of yourself, and your family and then gather the herbs necessary to combat those ailments.
Are Whole Herbs Superior to Processed Supplements?
It is my opinion that herbs picked are superior to supplements that have been processed. If herbs are merely ground and put into a capsule and , that is one thing, but if an herb has been processed to get certain constituents derived from the herb. In separating componenets from the herb, you eliminate the chemicals that allowed / caused the plant from uptaking some of the pharmisuticals that will help you to absorb the herb. Whereas, when you take a herb only ground, all the elements are there to help your body to absorb it into your body.
I will go one step farther to say that if you collect your own herbs it is superior to buying the herbs from the store. When you buy herbs from the store, even from bulk, the herbs will either be in a ground form, or broken down into very small pieces. When I show you to collect them from the forest or the field, I will teach you to keep the herb in as big pieces as possible, and on their stems as well. Keeping the herb as whole as possible will keep more of the minerals and the Pharmaceuticals in the plant than if it is stored ground or in small pieces.
When storing herbs keep them in dark bottles, or at least out of the light to keep them from breaking down as quickly.
How to Make a Tea With Different Components
Some people are new to making herbal teas, so I’ll tell you how I make my teas. I begin with the thicker components of the teas. I will start brewing my tea with roots in the pot and bring it up to the start of a boil, and then turn the burner to low. Try to keep at the almost boil for a total of 20 mins, at which time I turn the burner off and let it continue to steep. If I am adding a seed like Fenugreek or Fennel I will add it at the same time as the root. At about the 15 minute mark from the beginning of the process I will add leaf herbs to simmer for the last 5 minutes or so. This is where the burner is turned off.
If you are making a tea strictly of leaves you can merely brew the tea in a teapot. Many people have other ways of brewing your tea. Learn several methods and you will begin to enjoy your own way of brewing a cup.
Approaches to Healing
Our modern medical system seems bent on Silver Bullets, they look to find the drug that solves the problem of fixing the disease with one pill. The idea of the one drug is more a sale gimmick to make money. At the truth side of the story, bodies don’t work that way. During any ailment many systems are being effected which have to be addressed.
When dealing with herbs and my body, I prefer the Shotgun approach to the Silver Bullet . I take a number of herbs to deal with an ailment.
You can think of herbs as super food. We eat food for nutrition, but if we are lax, or with a change in weather, or stress hits us a little harder than normal, we are caught sideways; everyone can get sick. So herbs are like super foods because they have minerals in high degrees that will address illnesses. Herbs also contain Pharmaceuticals that give the body the organic chemicals that the body normally run on, but it gives it more directly, so the body doesn’t have to go through the process of creating them.
Getting back to the Shotgun, I take a number of herbs rather than a single one. Different herbs feeds different parts of the body, and the nutrition that those parts needs as far as fixing the organ. A herb may also provide the organ with the chemicals it hasn’t produced that may have caused the ailment in the first place.
Because the body is designed to heal itself, with a clean intestinal tract, your body will take the nutrients, and the Pharmaceuticals that your body needs, to heal itself. In many ways your body is smarter than you are, it knows what it needs. That is why I have come to the conclusion that the body was created to heal itself.
The Shotgun is Safer than the Silver Bullet
When taking herbs, there may be some that you are allergic to, that it is also safer to take multiple herbs. If you take one herb and you are allergic to it, you have a problem. But if you take a remedy with 4 or more herbs in it, it will be only a fraction of the percent of the herbs you are taking.
Be Observant
Be vigilant in observing your body and how it is functioning. If you are observant and notice a symptom of something coming on (stuffiness, cloudiness of thinking, a tickle in the throat, the start of runniness in your nose, the slight tightness in your chest), you can catch the illness just at the onset. It is better to catch an illness when there are a million bacteria attacking you before they become a billion. A million bacteria can be killed quite quickly, and there is the aspect that your body doesn’t have the added problem of repairing the tissues the bacteria has damaged.
Mechanical Aspects of Eating that Help Your Health
Chew your food well. The smaller pieces will digest faster, so you will derive more goodness from your food than if you don’t chew well. Have you ever seen a person that woofs down their food. They usually have bad gas, which is caused by poor digestion. Chewing more does 2 other things, it will put more saliva into your food. Saliva is an important part of digestion. It is the starting process of breaking down your food. The second point is it takes about 40 minutes for your body to realize that you have eaten enough. Also, chewing created the sensation of being satisfied.
There is a reason that the French are not as heavy as the Western World norm. The French emphases eating good food, slowly, while chatting, and also they have traded the concept of eating until you are full to eating until you are satisfied. That is many calories before being full.
Knowing Your Body to Help Healing
We as a society have gotten so far from instinctively understanding our bodies functions that most people get in the way of the body as it tries to heal itself. It is like there are 2 you’s, there is your brain fighting what the body is trying to accomplish. As a society we try to avoid the unpleasantness of what the body is doing when we are sick. We don’t like runny noses, or throwing up, or diarrhea. When any of those things happen we do what we can to stop it. But each of these things are mechanisms our body employs to purge out impurities. You are taught to immediately bring down a fever as soon as you get one. I’m not being critical here, I’m only making an observation. Perhaps it is the best thing to do for anyone that doesn’t understand how we function, but as you learn how your body functions, you will learn new tools for healing yourself quicker. Perhaps this is a better understanding to have, don’t stop a fever, control it. If you have a fever, or especially if a baby or child has a fever it is much more a dangerous situation, but in yourself, if you get a fever, instead of taking a couple of aspirin to eliminate the fever, start by taking half of what you would normally take. Bring down a dangerous fever to a lower fever, and then monitor the fever closely.
A fever is the body’s way of raising the body temperature to a point that it will kill bacteria. Bacteria is killed by heat. So if you raise your temperature to a mild fever you will be out of the danger zone, but you will still kill germs. If you stop the fever all together you will lose the healing power of a fever.
Once, when I was on top of a mountain in Alberta, with my children, there was a freak snowstorm in May. One got my coat, my sleeping bag went on them to keep the 3 warm in the night, and I came back with a fever. When I got back and the kids were taken care of, I poured a tall glass of tomato juice in a cup; I mixed a tablespoon of Cayenne into it and drank it. I ate 2 cloves of Garlic, wrapped an feather sleeping bag around me and went to bed. I woke up 2 hours later with the fever having been broken, and feeling much better. For someone that knows their body and how it works, a fever can be a tool to good health. Do not do this if you don’t have many years of experience in healing yours.
Incidently, you can get an aspirin to kick in faster if you put it under the tongue as opposed to swallowing it. Put it under the tongue for a minute before you swallow it. If you look under your tongue you will see blood vessels. The chemicals in an aspirin will absorb into the veins in the tongue and get into your blood stream without having to go through your stomach. If you have food in your stomach it will take some time for the chemicals to touch your stomach wall and be absorbed. Putting your medicine under the tongue is part of the practice of Homeopathy, and also ingesting tinctures. You can purchase White Willow Bark to do the same as the aspirin. White Willow Bark is where Aspirins originated from.
Diarrhea is a way the body gets toxins out of your body quickly. Remember that there is only so much in there before you are empty. When you have diarrhea drink plenty of liquids. Runny noses clean out Mucous, as does throwing up. Green mucous in your nose is a sign of a bacterial infection. My Mom made this point when I was a young father. My son had a flu and he threw up on my Mom’s rug. I was concerned about the vomit on her rug, but when it happened Mom said “Good, he got that out”. My Mom taught me the lesson of working with your body to control disease.
Garlic as a Natural Antibiotic
Some will dispute about Garlic killing a virus but I used Garlic to heal colds. Garlic will also treat fungus problems. The fact that Garlic has been instrumental in stopping my Colds and my Flu attest to the fact that Garlic works to kill viruses.
To me, Garlic is the champion antibiotic. Man’s antibiotics might be foiled by bacteria mutating, but Garlic has been around for thousands of years, but bacteria has never mutated around it.
If you have been sick and have taken an Antibiotic, get yourself a good Probiotic to replenish your flora. The way that doctor’s antibiotics work is that it causes all the bacteria in your body to absorb water, causing their cell walls to rupture. That means good bacteria as well as the bad. So inasmuch as your body needs your good gut bacteria, you need to replenish it. I would also suggest that you eat a lot of chick peas for a few days after you consume the Probiotic.
Oregano Oil
Oregano Oil is a powerful cure that needs consideration. It is an antiseptic that has been known to kill even Ecoli in an emergency. I hear a mother tell of her son, having drunk the water in Walkerton, and he was near death. She heard of a man speaking about Oregano Oil, and went to speak to him. With a long story short, she gave some Oregano Oil to her son and in a couple of days he was up and running around with his friends.
I would add, that inasmuch as Oregano Oil is and antiseptic, it kills all bacteria and your body’s good flora. It is much like Modern Antibiotics in this way.
A Coffee Scrub
A final item that I will add is that the Winter is awfully drying on your hands. I would suggest that periodically you get some coffee grinds and scrub your hands with it. The exfoliate will rub off the dead outer skin leaving you with very soft skin. Enjoy your softer skin ladies.
I hope that you have benefited from this written copy of my Winter Wellness Workshop. Please, if you have any questions please message me through FB. If I have made any errors, again, please contact me so I can make adjustments to the notes.
I hope that my Winter Wellness Workshop notes were useful for you. If you would like to get in touch with me you can do so by contacting me, Rob McQueen, through my Face Book site Forage City London, or by my email: hertzmyears@gmail.con.
Winter Wellness Workshop
(I would advise that you copy this document for future use. It is 11 pages long, and it would also be easier to mark up and make notes on it if it was on a hard copy)
I will begin with the understanding, that the things I say are from my experience, or from what I would do, and what I believe about health. I add that disclaimer because everyone’s body is different, and what I say works for me may not work for you. For example. I drink herb teas daily. Some of you may have an allergy to some of the herbs I use, therefore, for me to say do this, and you do it and have a allergic reaction, I will have done you a very big disservice.
I am also not wanting to take away from you learning about the workings of you body; that is you beautiful journey. We are born into this life and the experiment begins.
I also believe that if you have serious illnesses you should see a medical practitioner to help you figure out your problem. You are not where I am, where I have been taking care of my own health since I was 12 without the assistance of medical help.
What I will be concentrating on is for you to be well and not need to have medical assistance for your health. But in the end, I say that everyone should be their own best doctor. I believe that practitioners should be viewed as helps, and not gods.
So, let’s get this out of the way. Herbs are sometimes powerful for medicine. You must use wisdom and skill in using herbs so you don’t have problems. This is a caution, and not to create fear. I help people with their many questions. Usually reactions are limited to mild headaches, dizziness, rashes and such. To have more dramatic reactions it usually requires you taking something over a period of time and you ignoring the reaction you are having. It requires that you aren’t being observant about your own care. Don’t do that. Don’t treat yourself if you don’t remain mindful of how you are feeling.
I tell the story of my childhood here – this is what brought me to herbs as a young boy: (blah blah)
Conclusion to my story as a boy with herbs : What I learned when I was 12 was when the doctor couldn’t find the cure for my Ringworm 1. I couldn’t leave my health in the hands of someone else, and 2. I learned that herbs could cure me of illness. The other thing I learned that I didn’t realize back then was I learned to be observant about my body, what it was saying to me, and to be observant about my environment.
The reason that I tell my story is because I am speaking to many of ideas that are quite foreign to most people. In the past herbs and Herbalists, were suppressed by medical associations.
I am also speaking to many who are Novices. Many of you might feel that I am speaking of a mystical place or land where the rules are all changed. Me telling my story gives you a bridge on which you can build faith to cross to the understanding of herbs. By you crossing this bridge of belief, you will be able to build your own bridge. If and when you try herbs and prove to yourself that herbs work, you will build your own bridge, and your own faith to believe in herbs as a power to heal will grow.
I can tell you a simple remedy for you to try and build your faith on. When you see that it works for you, you will enter the land of the forgotten knowledge. In the spring you will get mosquito bites. Try this. When you get a bite, get a Plantain leaf and chew a little piece and put it on the bite for about 10 mins and you will see that herbs work. Me eating grass as a 12 year old boy, to heal myself of Ringworm, when the Doctor couldn’t heal me was my bridge to the world of using weeds for medicine.
When I do workshops and I see Stinging Nettle I get excited. I will walk over to the Stinging Nettle and do a demonstration that proves that herbs work as medicine. I will rub my bare arm across the Stinging Nettle which causes welts to be produced on my arm. In the demonstration I explain a truth that if you have a toxin, the remedy for your healing will be within 10 ft of the toxin. A remedy is always that close to a problem. I will look around and there will be Plantain, Burdock, Jewel Weed, or Yellow Dock within 10 ft to fix my problem. I will chew part of a leaf and with lots of spit on the leaf, I will rub it on my arm. Within 2 minutes I will barely feel the effects of the stinging. I usually pick Plantain because it is softer to chew, it is almost always around and it is very effective.
Of this other world that I speak of, I say: Foragers see the world differently that everyone else. While other people walk around stepping on weeds, and they see trees, and shrubs, flowers and grass, a forager sees food and medicine.
The basis of your health is Nutrition – Senate Report
I ask here, when do you think this report came out in? Some say the 1960’s, some think as far back as the 1950’s. The answer is that the report came out in 1936. And with the state of our World’s farming practices, farmers are still not putting nutrients back into the soil. They are only selling crops and not putting anything back into the soil. The chemical companies have farmers believing that selling wheat, corn or whatever is enough. There is no consideration of whether or not the food is healthy for those consuming it. There is the farm to save.
My observation and belief is that our bodies are created to heal themselves. If we give our bodies all the nutrients that they need, our bodies will heal themselves to the optimum of our DNA capacity. Some are unfortunate to have DNA with diseases as part of your make up. My hope is that in teaching you about nutrition and the way your body functions, I will help you to get closer to your healthiest within the bounds of your DNA makeup. Part of my family makeup is a weakness in the lungs, and from my father, I could have a problem with cholesterol in the arteries and prostate problems. Because I looked at my family background, I could decide that I don’t want these ailments to touch my life, so I have made life choices that have skirted the families weaknesses. Dad didn’t learn the lessons of herbs or of good health. For example, by the time my father was 55 he had a triple bypass to clean out his arteries. Seeing what he went through I’ve decided that I have no interest in a surgeon cutting me, so I use Olive Oil for oil, I eat lots of Oatmeal, get lots of roughage in my diet, apples are especially good for you and vegetables, lots of bran in a bran cereal. This is how I have decided not to follow my father’s footsteps in health.
If we look at the statement by the Senate Report and that you “Will get sick without minerals”, and assume the simple conclusion of merely eating nutritious food to get you healthy, in my estimation that would be a little off. I believe that even if you ate healthy food and supplements, you might still be sick. What if you begin with clogged bowels? Absorption of nutrition is the important thing as well as getting nutrition. To get an immediate start toward good health you should consider a good bowel cleanse.
Some people have been eating things that are not good for them for years, and their bowels are clogged with a thick layer of mucous that make absorbing nutrients almost impossible; we need a good cleansing.
In preparing for this Workshop I found a good article by a doctor on the situation.
“The mucus coats the villi on the wall of the small intestine. The villi are like tiny fingers that stick out from the intestinal wall to absorb nutrients from the digested food, which is primarily liquid. The mucus on the villi blocks the absorption of nutrients from the food. Sometimes the mucus gets so thick and tough it is almost like a plastic film. Almost no nutrition can get through to the body. A person with a severe mucus buildup could take $1,000.00 worth of supplements a month along with a good diet and still get almost no nutritional value from them. He or she would be starving and therefore would want to eat more food including protein. That would lead to more of the pancreatic enzymes being used to digest the protein even though it could not be properly absorbed. When all the pancreatic enzymes are used up, there are none left in the blood to destroy cancer cells.
The article is found at: http://www.whale.to/a/intestine.html
He then went on to prescribe a drug and that is where we part ways.
There we have it, with the bowels clean, and with our food deficient, how are we to get our nutrition? If you are constantly bunged up you may still be sick if your body isn’t absorbing the good nutrients that your body is needing.
To start the healing process it is best to do a cleanse in your bowels and also your blood. And then you have to get enough roughage to continue getting the roughage to maintain your healthy intestinal tract.
What Goes in Must Come Out
For a good bowel cleanse strictly for the intestinal tract you can try Cascara Sagrada. This herb causes water to accumulate in the intestines and thus making your stool soft and flowing. Loose as a goose comes to mind. You are best to use Cascara Sagrada about half an hour before bed and take it as a tea, or as a supplement with a hot cup of water, as hot as is comfortable to take. This will maximize the effect. A capsule is safe to take, if you have never used it before. If 1 capsule isn’t enough of a moving experience, you could try 2 capsules another time. Again with hot water before bed. You might hear of another herb, Senna, for the same purpose, but I would advise against it. Senna may cause you a lot of cramps.
For a deep cleanse you can use a combination of herbs, Chaparral, Dandelion Root, and Red Clover Blossoms. That works on both cleaning the bowel, and also the blood. If you wanted to do a good blood cleanse, you could also add Yellow Dock root and Burdock root. It is interesting to note that both Chaparral and Red Clover Blossoms have been studied for the use of Cancer.
Prune juice is an old favourite, and metamucil comes from the seeds of the ever present Plantain weed. Plantain is the weed that I am constantly raving about, a weed which I tell everyone that they should get to know about.
Flax Seed has properties of helping you to eliminate, as well as having Essential Fatty Acids as a bonus. Flax, with its roughage, forms a jell that will go through your intestine like a plug, dragging the old food out and from the intestinal lining.
Bran is good for roughage. You can think of the insoluble bran flakes as thousands of little bulldozers cleaning the sides of your intestines. Some must drive upside down.
Chlorophyll is good for a constant cleansing. Chlorophyll is what makes your vegetables green, so continue to maintain good bowel and blood cleanliness by eating green leafy vegetable. If you lived by the principle of eating your medicine, you should eat lots of vegetables.
After The Cleanse
Good and as healthy food as possible, preferable grown by you, should be your first line of defense for good health. In growing your own food, you breathe in gasses given off of the soil, chemicals that are the precursors of melatonin (the happiness hormone).
Herbs that are good for nutrition are Alfalfa, and Dandelion, but Alfalfa is king. Kelp is another good supplement for giving you your minerals. Some might have a problem with Kelp so use it with caution. In the back of my book Herbally Yours you will find that Alfalfa has all but a couple of minerals in it. That is because the roots of Alfalfa goes down 10 to 14 ft in the ground picking up minerals from deep in the soil. You will notice that the mineral rich Dandelion also has a deep root. Another beneficial supplement is Kelp. It picks up minerals that float freely in the ocean.
I think that it is a good idea to drink a tea of Alfalfa, Peppermint Horsetail, and Chamomile. Alfalfa will give you your minerals and help you digest your food, Peppermint will help you digest your food, Horsetail will help you assimilate your Calcium, Calcium is a very important mineral, and Chamomile would help you feel calm in your life.
Often people take herbs for different ailments. While food is your best medicine, herbs can be used to get a person back on track. Many people will think of herbs as medicine, ie thinking of the Pharmaceutical properties, but herbs are more. Herbs contain large concentrations of minerals and herbs work because it is the concentration of minerals that give the body the nutrients to restore it to health. Remember, if you do not have the minerals you will get sick.
If a person isn’t dangerously, or bothersomely sick, if you are not confident in prescribing herbs for yourself, you can take Alfalfa, Dandelion Leaves, and/or Kelp to slowly, but surely feed yourself the nutrients that your body will absorb and restore your good health. That is my thinking, my gut feeling, so take it for what it is worth. It will be a slower, more natural way to restore yourself to health.
Dealing with Mucous
After cleaning out your bowels, I think that the next biggest preventative thing that you need to be concerned with for your health is monitoring the Mucous level in your body. Mucous is a necessary part of your human health, it separates organs from each other, and bacteria from our parts, but an over abundance of Mucous becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. With a combination of too much mucous, not enough nutrients and your body defenses being down, you will get sick. When you notice that you are getting to mucousy you have to bring down the mucous level to prevent illness. Did you know that often times, it is mucous that causes a sore throat? Mucous will build up at the back of the nasal cavity and if a bad bacteria comes along, the mucous will be the perfect breeding ground for a sore throat to develop. If you have bacteria in your nose it is better to blow your nose that it is to huck it up, so it doesn’t pass your throat. You will know that you have bacteria when your mucous becomes green.
When you first notice that you are getting an excess Mucous (a runny nose, clearing your throat, tightness in chest etc.) it may be a sign that your body’s defenses are down, so you should reduce the foods that create Mucous in your body. These foods are the building blocks of Mucous – white sugar, white wheat flour and milk products. You can remember them by thinking that they are all white. If you do become sick before you clear yourself of mucous, the longer you continue eating these food the longer you will be sick because you will be continuing the breeding ground of mucous.
Mucous in General: The main herbs to clear mucous are Fenugreek, Slippery Elm and Thyme (the culinary herb). You may also use Sage in your cooking.
Lungs: In my case, the mucous will present itself in the lungs, so I have always used Fenugreek (mainly) Mullein, and Marshmallow Root in a tea. If you have other herbs you could include Burdock for cleaning your blood, Red Raspberry, Rose Hips, and Plantain. Some of these herbs are for clearing mucous, some are to repair tissues infected (if over a period of time). Again, you can use Sage and/or Thyme in your cooking.
Sinuses: Fenugreek (mainly), and you can take Ginger, Fennel, Mullen. Rose Hips can be used for clearing your sinuses, which adds the bonus of being especially high in Vit. C.
When expelling mucous from your nose it is better to blow your nose rather than hucking it out through your mouth. There is less chance of getting a sore throat when the mucous touches your throat.
Green mucous in your sinuses indicate the presence of a bacterial infection.
Mucous in the Throat: The main herb I use with a sore throat is Licorice. Bayberry, Chlorophyll are also good. Cayenne is good to swallow. You might want to consume it in hot spicy food. It is not as hard on the stomach that way. I have been known to get a tall glass of tomato juice, and I throw at least a tablespoon of Cayenne in, stirred it up and drink it down. You might want to experiment with how much Cayenne you use, depending on how strong a stomach you have, and how your body handles an acid system. You can take Alfalfa tablets, and perhaps a Calcium supplement to help reduce your acid level.
Comfrey: In all this, some books may suggestion to use Comfrey for several of these. I strongly caution people about the use of Comfrey for extended use, as it can cause liver damage. Herbs have to be used with skill, prudence and with moderation.
Cayenne is a good herb to use in association with most treatment. Do not use with acidic problems. Cayenne is a catalyst, and as such it speeds up all reactions. It will also cause the heart to strengthen, and also pump faster to get the nutrients out to your body quicker. You will note that when you eat hot spicy food that your face will get red. That is the heart pumping heat away from your core, to cool it, thus the heat is moved to your face and limbs. In the winter I will use more Cayenne on colder days to help keep me warmer.
If you want to get Cayenne into your system faster, put it into tomato juice, stir and drink it. If you want Cayenne to effect you over a longer period of time include it into your food when you eat so it is absorbed into your system slowly as the food digests. Take Alfalfa and/or Calcium supplement to reduce the effect of the acid on your body. You can also drink distilled or RO water to increase the bodies PH.
Garlic can be used at all times as a prevention of illness. Garlic is a natural Antibiotic and will kill bacteria, viruses (colds), and Fungus infections. It is unlike chemical Antibiotics, in that it will not disturb your body’s natural flora. You can read more about Garlic where I speak of Strep Throat. You can minimize the smell of Garlic by drinking lots of water when you are taking it, and also you can chew on a sprig of parsley after eating the Garlic. Parsley has a lot of Chlorophyll in it (the reason for the dark green colour). Chlorophyll is the ingredient in Chlorets that kills bad breath odours.
Other Winter Ailments:
Bronchitis, Pneumonia etc.: To start, these will be dealt with in the same manor as to remove the mucous. When the mucous is gone, clearing the lungs and bronchial tubes of infection is much simpler. (See Mucous – Lungs)
What I do is:
1. I automatically remove white sugar, white flour, and milk products from my diet.
2. I will begin drinking a tea of Fenugreek, Mullein, and Marshmallow root. 4 to 6 cups the first day. 4 cups the following day if the condition persists.
3. I start taking Garlic for an Antibiotic, 4 cloves a day, for at least a day after I think that I have licked it.
4. I begin taking Cayenne in large amounts, more than a teaspoon in tomato juice. I do that 2 times a days. Cayenne raises the core temperature, which like an artificial fever. I will speak to fevers further along.
Use Cayenne in tomato juice, and on an empty stomach when you want it to get into your system faster. If you want it to go into your system slower, put the Cayenne into your food where it will be absorbed slowly throughout a few hours – it works like time released that way.
Strep Throat:
One winter I got Strep Throat. It was to the point that I could hardly swallow, so I had to deal with more aggressive than I would a regular Sore Throat. I ate 2 bulbs of Garlic in 2 days ( it was the loneliest 2 days of my life). I ate one bulb the first and the other the second day. That is at a rate of 1 cove every hour to hour and a half. But inasmuch as it was Strep Throat I consumed them differently than I would a regular Sore Throat. With a regular Sore Throat I simple drank 2 glasses of water, put a little water in my mouth and then a clove of Garlic; I chewed the Garlic and swallowed.
With the Strep Throat, I also drank the 2 glasses of water, I sipped some water, chewed the Garlic, but rather than swallowing the whole mixture, I swallowed the liquid, and then I swallowed the Garlic so it would pass over the throat tissues. By the end of the first day I could swallow comfortably again, but I took the second bulb the next day to make sure I had killed all the germs. This is why I comfortably say that Garlic doesn’t interfere with your body’s flora.
If you have a stomach that will not tolerate the strength of the Garlic on your stomach, cut up a clove of Garlic and put it in a glass of water for a couple of hours and then you can drink it. This will make it not so hard on the stomach. There will be no Garlic sitting immediately on your stomach.
You can also eat Papayas. Papayas have a similar compound that is in stomach acid and while eating it, it will digest the dead tissues of the throat as it travels to your stomach.
Colds Vs. Flu (both are Virus ailments, making their symptoms somewhat similar)
What are the symptoms of the flu versus the symptoms of a cold? Found in article http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/coldflu.htm
In general, the flu is worse than the common cold, and symptoms such as fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, and dry cough are more common and intense. Colds are usually milder than the flu. People with colds are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems, such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, or hospitalizations.
Flu:
Ginger is good for your stomach, it will neutralize acids and aid digestion. Peppermint is also good for your digestion, and also for fever, headaches, pain and it is also an Expectorant. Red Raspberry and Yarrow are 2 other better herbs to take. Secondary herbs that grow in the area would be Alfalfa, Catnip Dandelion (the root), Red Clover, Rose Hips (likely for the Vit. C and for a fever), Slippery Elm is good for Diarrhea , lungs and mucous. Yellow Dock root is a good blood purifier and cleans out some of your organs. Take these in a tea form. Teas (Infusions) will hit your blood stream almost immediately, much faster than ingesting them in a tablet or capsule which then have to be broken down in the less effective digestive system.
If you can hold down food add Sage, Thyme and Cinnamon to your meals. Studies are being conducted to see if Cinnamon actually kills germs.
Vitamins A, C and E are important, as is Calcium.
Remember to add Garlic and Cayenne to your treatment.
Colds: Colds really respond well to a combination of Cayenne, Garlic, Fenugreek, and Rose Hips.
Secondary herbs could be Chamomile, Catnip, Ginger, Licorice for congestion in the throat, Peppermint, Red Raspberry, and Yarrow.
Vitamins A, B, C and E and Calcium
Ear Infection
If you get an ear infection, get a small bottle and partly fill it with Olive Oil. Cut up a clove of Garlic and put it into the oil. Leave stand for at least for an hour. You can warm the oil and tilting your head, put some in your ear with an eyedropper.
The warm is soothing and will usually remove the pain quickly and the natural antibiotic property will kill the infection. Put some Kleenex in your ear to both keep your ear warm, but also to keep the oil from dripping on your clothes.
Good Habits for Good Health
I will add what I do as good habits to keep me without illnesses. I do these things in the knowledge that I am less likely to get sick, and if I do, because my body is already in good condition, that it will take less for me to throw off the attack of an illness.
– I drink a glass of water before I go to bed and again when I first get up. I think that I get a good flush of my liver and kidneys before my stomach gets food in it. Some will prefer either Distilled or RO water. Also hydration is important
– Reduce the amount of meat you consume if you eat a lot of meat. A naturopath I heard speak, said that your body can only process a small paddy of meat at a time. If you eat too much meat your body will not be able to produce enough Hydrochloride Acid to break down the protein, the remainder will go rancid in your gut. Your intestines are warm and moist. It is a great place for toxins to grow. These toxins will get absorbed into your bloodstream via the intestines. Ask yourself would you eat meat that sat out on the table for a day or more? If you think about the toxins that would grow being left out, it is worst in the warmth and the moisture of your gut.
-Regarding eating meat, I eat most of my meat at the beginning of the meal so that the meat hits my stomach on its own, and then my vegetables. That way the Hydrochloric Acid can break the meat down before the potatoes get piled on and absorb the acid, leaving the protein undigested.
– Get good yogurt into you. I eat half a tub of yogurt usually 2 times a week. This is unsweetened yogurt. I add unsweetened pineapple or a mixture of fruit to the yogurt. Also, when I am eating oatmeal, I put a tablespoon of yogurt into my oatmeal when it is just warm, and I let it stand for a few hours before I eat it. It is my feeling that the oatmeal becomes a base for the probiotics to grow. I started this practice after I found out that chick peas was the medium for growing probiotics, that are sold in health food stores. Yogurt can also be added to rice or bean meals.
How to Use Herbs
People do not consider that herbs can be powerful in their effects on you, particularly if you have an allergy, or an adverse reaction to a herb. You have to use herbs in both wisdom (understanding what the herb does) and moderation. If you overuse a medicinal herb you can develop an allergy to it, or a buildup can cause you problems. An example that can be sited is for Comfrey. Comfrey is a wonderful herb that is powerful in healing many ailments, 50 and counting. I personally only take Comfrey for knitting my bones for breaks.
When you try an herb for the first time you will not know if you are allergic. If you are using Chemical Drugs you would be wise to consult with a Pharmacist for harmful interactions with that herb. Pharmacists are more knowledgeable than doctors about this. Or find a reputable site on the Internet.
Use the herb once and don’t use if again for a couple of days. Try this again in a couple of days. If you experience a side effect like a rash, dizziness, confusion, head ache, or anything different than usual, stop using the herb.
If you are using more than one new herb that is new, you should take the time to use this process. Or simply pick another herb that will do the same thing, but one that you have used.
When using herbs for your health, I suggest using herbs that are from your direct area. The principle is that the herbs that grow in your immediate area are living in the same environment, the same climate as you, so they will respond to that same climate by producing the best chemistry to adapt to that environment. That is why I strongly hope that everyone will come out for foraging workshops, to collect the herbs that are needed by you. You assess the illnesses of yourself, and your family and then gather the herbs necessary to combat those ailments.
Are Whole Herbs Superior to Processed Supplements?
It is my opinion that herbs picked are superior to supplements that have been processed. If herbs are merely ground and put into a capsule and , that is one thing, but if an herb has been processed to get certain constituents derived from the herb. In separating components from the herb, you eliminate the chemicals that allowed / caused the plant from up-taking some of the pharmaceuticals that will help you to absorb the herb. Whereas, when you take a herb only ground, all the elements are there to help your body to absorb it into your body.
I will go one step farther to say that if you collect your own herbs it is superior to buying the herbs from the store. When you buy herbs from the store, even from bulk, the herbs will either be in a ground form, or broken down into very small pieces. When I show you to collect them from the forest or the field, I will teach you to keep the herb in as big pieces as possible, and on their stems as well. Keeping the herb as whole as possible will keep more of the minerals and the Pharmaceuticals in the plant than if it is stored ground or in small pieces.
When storing herbs keep them in dark bottles, or at least out of the light to keep them from breaking down as quickly.
How to Make a Tea With Different Component
Some people are new to making herbal teas, so I’ll tell you how I make my teas. I begin with the thicker components of the teas. I will start brewing my tea with roots in the pot and bring it up to the start of a boil, and then turn the burner to low. Try to keep at the almost boil for a total of 20 mins, at which time I turn the burner off and let it continue to steep. If I am adding a seed like Fenugreek or Fennel I will add it at the same time as the root. At about the 15 minute mark from the beginning of the process I will add leaf herbs to simmer for the last 5 minutes or so. This is where the burner is turned off.
If you are making a tea strictly of leaves you can merely brew the tea in a teapot. Many people have other ways of brewing your tea. Learn several methods and you will begin to enjoy your own way of brewing a cup.
Approaches to Healing
Our modern medical system seems bent on Silver Bullets, they look to find the drug that solves the problem of fixing the disease with one pill. The idea of the one drug is more a sale gimmick to make money. At the truth side of the story, bodies don’t work that way. During any ailment many systems are being effected which have to be addressed.
When dealing with herbs and my body, I prefer the Shotgun approach to the Silver Bullet. I take a number of herbs to deal with an ailment.
You can think of herbs as super food. We eat food for nutrition, but if we are lax, or with a change in weather, or stress hits us a little harder than normal, we are caught sideways; everyone can get sick. So herbs are like super foods because they have minerals in high degrees that will address illnesses. Herbs also contain Pharmaceuticals that give the body the organic chemicals that the body normally run on, but it gives it more directly, so the body doesn’t have to go through the process of creating them.
Getting back to the Shotgun, I take a number of herbs rather than a single one. Different herbs feeds different parts of the body, and the nutrition that those parts needs as far as fixing the organ. A herb may also provide the organ with the chemicals it hasn’t produced that may have caused the ailment in the first place.
Because the body is designed to heal itself, with a clean intestinal tract, your body will take the nutrients, and the Pharmaceuticals that your body needs, to heal itself. In many ways your body is smarter than you are, it knows what it needs. That is why I have come to the conclusion that the body was created to heal itself.
The Shotgun is Safer than the Silver Bullet
When taking herbs, there may be some that you are allergic to, that it is also safer to take multiple herbs. If you take one herb and you are allergic to it, you have a problem. But if you take a remedy with 4 or more herbs in it, it will be only a fraction of the percent of the herbs you are taking.
Be Observant
Be vigilant in observing your body and how it is functioning. If you are observant and notice a symptom of something coming on (stuffiness, cloudiness of thinking, a tickle in the throat, the start of a runny nose, the slight tightness in your chest), you can catch the illness just at the onset. It is better to catch an illness when there are a million bacteria attacking you before they become a billion. A million bacteria can be killed quite quickly, and there is the aspect that your body doesn’t have the added problem of repairing the tissues the bacteria has damaged.
Mechanical Aspects of Eating that Help Your Health
Chew your food well. The smaller pieces will digest faster, so you will derive more goodness from your food than if you don’t chew well. Have you ever seen a person that woofs down their food. They usually have bad gas, which is caused by poor digestion. Chewing more does 2 other things, it will put more saliva into your food. Saliva is an important part of digestion. It is the starting process of breaking down your food. The second point is it takes about 40 minutes for your body to realize that you have eaten enough. Also, chewing created the sensation of being satisfied.
There is a reason that the French are not as heavy as the Western World norm. The French emphases eating good food, slowly, while chatting, and also they have traded the concept of eating until you are full to eating until you are satisfied. That is many calories before being full.
Knowing Your Body for Healing
We as a society have gotten so far from instinctively understanding our bodies functions that most people get in the way of the body as it tries to heal itself. It is like there are 2 you’s, there is your brain fighting what the body is trying to accomplish. As a society we try to avoid the unpleasantness of what the body is doing when we are sick. We don’t like runny noses, or throwing up, or diarrhea. When any of those things happen we do what we can to stop it. But each of these things are mechanisms our body employs to purge out impurities. You are taught to immediately bring down a fever as soon as you get one. I’m not being critical here, I’m only making an observation. Perhaps it is the best thing to do for anyone that doesn’t understand how we function, but as you learn how your body functions, you will learn new tools for healing yourself quicker. Perhaps this is a better understanding to have, don’t stop a fever, control it. If you have a fever, or especially if a baby or child has a fever it is much more a dangerous situation, but in yourself, if you get a fever, instead of taking a couple of aspirin to eliminate the fever, start by taking half of what you would normally take. Bring down a dangerous fever to a lower fever, and then monitor the fever closely.
A fever is the body’s way of raising the body temperature to a point that it will kill bacteria. Bacteria is killed by heat. So if you raise your temperature to a mild fever you will be out of the danger zone, but you will still kill germs. If you stop the fever all together you will lose the healing power of a fever.
Once, when I was on top of a mountain in Alberta, with my children, there was a freak snowstorm in May. One got my coat, my sleeping bag went on them to keep the 3 warm in the night, and I came back with a fever. When I got back and the kids were taken care of, I poured a tall glass of tomato juice in a cup; I mixed a tablespoon of Cayenne into it and drank it. I ate 2 cloves of Garlic, wrapped an feather sleeping bag around me and went to bed. I woke up 2 hours later with the fever having been broken, and feeling much better. For someone that knows their body and how it works, a fever can be a tool to good health. Do not do this if you don’t have many years of experience in healing yours.
Incidentally, you can get an aspirin to kick in faster if you put it under the tongue as opposed to swallowing it. Put it under the tongue for a minute before you swallow it. If you look under your tongue you will see blood vessels. The chemicals in an aspirin will absorb into the veins in the tongue and get into your blood stream without having to go through your stomach. If you have food in your stomach it will take some time for the chemicals to touch your stomach wall and be absorbed. Putting your medicine under the tongue is part of the practice of Homeopathy, and also ingesting tinctures. You can purchase White Willow Bark to do the same as the aspirin. White Willow Bark is where Aspirins originated from.
Diarrhea is a way the body gets toxins out of your body quickly. Remember that there is only so much in there before you are empty. When you have diarrhea drink plenty of liquids. Runny noses clean out Mucous, as does throwing up. Green mucous in your nose is a sign of a bacterial infection. My Mom made this point when I was a young father. My son had a flu and he threw up on my Mom’s rug. I was concerned about the vomit on her rug, but when it happened Mom said “Good, he got that out”. My Mom taught me the lesson of working with your body to control disease.
Garlic as a Natural Antibiotic
Some will dispute about Garlic killing a virus but I used Garlic to heal colds. Garlic will also treat fungus problems. The fact that Garlic has been instrumental in stopping my Colds and my Flu attest to the fact that Garlic works to kill viruses.
To me, Garlic is the champion antibiotic. Man’s antibiotics might be foiled by bacteria mutating, but Garlic has been around for thousands of years, but bacteria has never mutated around it.
If you have been sick and have taken an Antibiotic, get yourself a good Probiotic to replenish your flora. The way that doctor’s antibiotics work is that it causes all the bacteria in your body to absorb water, causing their cell walls to rupture. That means good bacteria as well as the bad. So inasmuch as your body needs your good gut bacteria, you need to replenish it. I would also suggest that you eat a lot of chick peas for a few days after you consume the Probiotic.
Oregano Oil:
Oregano Oil is a powerful cure that needs consideration. It is an antiseptic that has been known to kill even Ecoli in an emergency. I hear a mother tell of her son, having drunk the water in Walkerton, and he was near death. She heard of a man speaking about Oregano Oil, and went to speak to him. With a long story short, she gave some Oregano Oil to her son and in a couple of days he was up and running around with his friends.
I would add, that inasmuch as Oregano Oil is and antiseptic, it kills all bacteria and your body’s good flora. It is much like Modern Antibiotics in this way.
A Coffee Scrub
A final item that I will add is that the Winter is awfully drying on your hands. I would suggest that periodically you get some coffee grinds and scrub your hands with it. The exfoliate will rub off the dead outer skin leaving you with very soft skin. Enjoy your softer skin ladies.
I hope that you have benefited from this written copy of my Winter Wellness Workshop. Please, if you have any questions please message me through FB. If I have made any errors, again, please contact me so I can make adjustments to the notes.
Those that would like to get in touch with me can access me via my FB site Forage City London.
Mackenzie King and Bank of Canada’s first Governor Graeme Tower (1939 )
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